Less than a decade ago, Europe was a fragmented continent with multiple card schemes and weak interoperability between countries. Except for some Eastern European countries, all European countries had their own national/domestic card scheme with their own rules and standards that only worked inside the specific country. But the domestic card schemes market in Europe changed dramatically following the Payment Services Directive and the SEPA Cards Framework. The domestic card schemes in the UK, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Finland have been phased out and replaced by internationally branded cards such as VISA Debit, Debit MasterCard, Maestro or V PAY.

Editor’s note: This is the third post in our ‘Payments in Focus’ Series. You can see the previous posts on payments here.

Lately, we are seeing more and more domestic EU merchants who are interested in expanding the global reach of their businesses. Many UK, U.S. and Germany-based online merchants have already successfully expanded beyond their domestic markets by generating a positive balance of e-commerce trade for their countries, i.e. the country’s e-commerce exports have exceeded its imports.

Editor’s note: This is the second post in our Payments in Focus Series. You can see the previous post on payments in China here.

Danish law regulates the charges that can be imposed by retailers when payment cards are being used in Denmark. The rule is that the retailer is allowed to impose any surcharge on the card holder when the payment is made with a credit card issued in Denmark or abroad, but not when a debit card, such as the Dankort or an international debit card is used. If a retailer chooses to surcharge for the use of a credit card, this fee may not exceed the fee paid by the retailer to the acquirer, and maximum up to 3.75% per transaction.

The decision to open up Chinese bank card payment clearing market, which came into effect on June 1, 2015, follows, to a certain extent, a complaint the U.S. filed with the World Trade Organization in 2012. The U.S. argued that, per WTO rules, member countries of the organization should treat foreign credit and debit card issuers on par with domestic issuers and therefore required the Chinese government to open up the market for “bank clearing services” to foreign and domestically-invested companies incorporated in PRC. In addition, the PBOC will allow banks in China to issue Visa and MasterCard payment cards independently of UnionPay.Continue Reading

Editor’s note: We are pleased to announce our new ‘Country in Focus’ series. Every few weeks we will take a closer look at a different country and analyze it in terms of its e-commerce and payments environments. If you haven’t done so yet, subscribe to our blog so you won’t miss a single post in the series.

In terms of nominal GDP, Japan is the third largest national economy in the world and fourth largest in terms of purchasing power parity (PPP). According to the Japan Statistics Bureau, the number of people who used the Internet for the first time exceeded 100 million people, making up 82.8 percent of the population 6 years of age and older.

It is generally agreed in the payments world that Europe is one of the world’s biggest e-commerce markets. However, growth in cross-border e-shopping has not followed the general growth in online retail. Indeed, in 2013, only 11% of Europeans shopped cross-border ie: from retailers based in another European country, according to ECC-NET.Continue Reading

This year’s Merchant Payment Ecosystem event was held in Berlin on February 17-19. The emphasis this year was on mPOS, NFC and Bitcoin. There were a number of interesting and educational sessions on a variety of issues facing the payments industry.Continue Reading

With Christmas behind us and the New Year nearly upon us, now is a good time to consider what’s in store for payments in 2015. Which payments trends will dominate the industry conversation? Here’s a look at the top 4 issues that will move the industry in the new year:Continue Reading

The Money20/20 conference was held in Las Vegas earlier this month. The payments industry trade show had over 7,000 people in attendance and over 400 exhibitors and sponsors. It is a must-attend event for anyone in the financial, banking and payments world and we were excited that Credorax was able to attend and contribute to this wonderful event.Continue Reading

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